Metro briefs 0417

The city has notified former employee John Foddrill that the trespass notice against him has been lifted and he can again access city facilities in the same manner as other private citizens, City Attorney Michael Bernard said Tuesday.

The city acted a few days after a federal judge ordered it to allow another ex-employee, Michael Cuellar, into municipal buildings. The two had been indefinitely banned from City Hall and other city facilities.

The order enjoined the city from blocking Cuellar after he filed a federal lawsuit. Foddrill, too, has sued the city, though without an attorney his case isn't as far along.

Foddrill is a former telecommunications manager for the city who argues he was fired for being a whistle-blower on a municipal slush fund. A jury in state district court concluded in 2009 that his accusations were unfounded.

The ultimate fates of Cuellar and Foddrill appear to remain in the hands of federal courts, as their cases are pending.

Bexar County

Juvenile detention officer gets bail

A juvenile detention officer who was arrested on an allegation that he offered a teen inmate money for sex was freed on bail Tuesday.

The girl, 16, said Macarthur Eaglin, 46, made inappropriate gestures at her and repeatedly asked for her phone number and address while she was detained at the Tejeda Juvenile Justice Center on April 1.

She told her parents, who told officials at the detention center, who in turn notified the Sheriff's Office.

When confronted with the allegation, Eaglin confessed, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. He also said he had gotten phone numbers from other inmates, though he said he didn't call any of them.

Eaglin was charged with official suppression, a Class A misdemeanor.

Courthouse

$100,000 bail after solicitation talk

Bail was set again Tuesday for a murder defendant who has been implicated but not charged in an alleged plot to kill state District Judge Angus McGinty.

Jeffery Brian Spaulding has been in jail since February 2011 in the stabbing death of boyfriend Ted Wildberger. In December, McGinty ordered Spaulding held without bail after a bailiff said he tried to remove a ceiling tile from a courthouse holding cell.

An informant told authorities in February that Spaulding, angry over the judge's ruling, had paid another inmate's $2,000 bail in exchange for a promise to kill McGinty. It does not appear the other inmate ever took any action, authorities have said.

Since then, Spaulding's original murder case has been transferred to state District Judge Sid Harle, who ruled Tuesday that some sort of bail is necessary. He set it at $100,000 — still 10 times the amount Spaulding's attorneys indicated he could pay.

Courthouse

No probation until first term served

Intoxication manslaughter convict Robert “Sam” Stinziano returned to court Tuesday for a brief hearing in which state District Judge Melisa Skinner opted to stack his sentences.

Jurors in February sentenced Stinziano, 25, to 10 years in prison for the Oct. 17, 2010, wreck that tore Eagle Pass resident Karla Viesca's car in half, killing her.

Jurors also ordered probation for the intoxication assault of Stinziano's passenger, Kaylie McCaskill. Because of the judge's decision, Stinziano won't begin serving probation until he's released from prison.